Second Best
by Lupanaridae
Summary: Ariadne feels depressed after receiving second place architecture award, and someone is there to help her feel better. Short fluffy one-shot, Arthur/Ariadne.


A/N – It is not stated in the movie as to what grade Ariadne is in college, but for the purposes of this story, we are going to pretend she is a senior. Anyone who's not okay with that doesn't have to read further. :) Please review! They make me smile!

There she was, sitting in the auditorium of the college at the yearly award ceremony. Usually she could care less about this sort of thing, caring more about the educational benefits rather than awards, but this year, she was anxious for this night to come around.

Ariadne knew she was one of the best students in the class, and also one of Professor Miles favorites (this she just knew for a fact), and this year, her senior year of college, she had decided to try and shoot for a very prestigious award that her college offered. While some of the requirements were pretty straight-forward and basic, the rest you either had or you didn't. There was no cheating your way into receiving this award.

The longer she sat there, the more anxious she became. Beside her, Arthur noticed this and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Ariadne smiled and forced herself to take a deep breath as the counselor of the school stood up and began to explain what the award was. When it came time to announce the winner, Arthur's hand gripped hers a little tighter.

"And the recipient of this unique and wonderful award goes to... Lauren Lancaster of Professor Miles class."

As applause rang through the audience, a dumbfounded Ariadne clapped out of habit. Lauren was a polite girl, but she was one of those kids that never had to work for anything; all of the awards and any kind of recognition was automatically given to her just because of who her parents were (and how much money she had). This caused those like Ariadne, who worked their behinds off to be proud of something, to be left behind; lost in the shadows. Ariadne tried to find just one really good reason to dislike the girl, but found that she couldn't not matter how hard she tried.

Ariadne ended up winning second place. She kept a mask of happiness around her fragile, sad exterior as she accepted the awards. And she continued to do so as she politely congratulated Lauren on her achievements. She, too, did the same, causing Ariadne to wish all the more that she had just one good reason to treat her with disrespect. She scolded herself on such thinking.

As she and Arthur finally made their way back to her apartment, her pent up feelings were beginning to show.

"Ariadne? Are you okay?" Arthur asked concerned. He hated seeing her in a state like this, and wanted to know just what was going through her head.

"No, I'm not okay. I'm..."

"Feeling downhearted?" he finished, and she nodded, tears starting to roll down her face.

"I worked so hard for that award and she didn't even try! Why did she get it?" She was crying heavily now but trying desperately not to.

"Favoritism is something I personally despise, and think should not be allowed among schools today." he started, choosing his words carefully. "I'm afraid to say that its also something that we just have to deal with as it comes along."

This just seemed to make her even more upset, and she started to sob. Arthur quickly lifted her chin and stopped her.

"Hey, think of it this way: Your professors are always going to remember you as someone second in comparison to another student," Ariadne opened her moth to protest something, but he held up his hand. "but to me, Ariadne, in my eyes you are not second best, do you hear me? To me you are the world, as cliché as that sounds. The fact that you congratulated her when its obvious you hate her is an amazing thing. Don't be ashamed of who you are, because the you I fell in love with will always be the best in my eyes."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek to sum up his pep talk. The entire time, Ariadne had been listening and absorbing his every word, even if she was crying through most of it. Now she looked up at his dark eyes and smiled as best she could.

"Thank you, Arthur."

"Anytime, Ariadne."

**A/N – I was actually in a situation not so different to Ariadne's, which is where I got the inspiration for this little one-shot. Because it's late when I started this, I nearly feel asleep about four times, so I apologize if this is just complete crap. I had to get it written down before I forgot it.**


End file.
